The Options At Your Disposal With Our LED Spotlights
Posted by Richard Clarke on 10th Aug 2015
The rise of LED lighting has given manufacturers the chance to expand the range of options available – especially when it comes to LED spotlights.
This surge in popularity means it’s never been easier to find exactly what you’re after. With so many variables on offer, let’s take a look at what they are and how our range of LED spotlights affect your set up.
Retro Fittings
Our spotlights come in a variety of different bases depending on how your existing lights are set up.
We have GU10, MR16, GU11, MR11, AR111 and reflector bulbs.
All of them run off 240V mains supply with the exception of MR16 fittings. These are low voltage spotlights, and as a result are safer to use in places like the kitchen or bathroom where there might be large amounts of water.
You’ll need an LED compatible driver if you’re changing from low voltage halogens. Alternatively, you could use our pack of 5 GU10 lamp holders to convert your old low voltage MR16 fittings to mains voltage GU10.
Using these means you won’t have to purchase a separate transformer.
Pick Your Own Temperature
Most of our spotlights allow you to choose what kind of colour temperature you would like – with warm white (3000K) and cool white (6000K) available.
Warm white is great for the living room or bedroom, as it helps create a really cosy environment that helps you to relax.
Cool white is better when it’s used in areas like the kitchen, warehouse or office. This is because of its brighter, icier shade of white that helps keep you alert.
It’s important to consider what colour you want based on the room you’re shopping for.
Less Light When You Need It
You might want the freedom to choose how much light you want at any given time. If so, our dimmable LEDs will let you do just that.
It’s important to know though, that you’ll more than likely need to change your dimmer switch, as you’ll need a trailing edge dimmer – the kind that is compatible with LEDs.
Using the more commonly found leading edge dimmers might not work, and could also drastically shorten the lifespan of your LEDs too, damaging them in the process.
You can find some great LED compatible dimmers in our range of rotary dimmers from Varilight.
Spread The Light
Generally speaking, the LED spotlights that we sell come in 2 kinds of beam angle – wide and narrow. Which one you decide on really depends on where you’re planning on using your spotlight.
If you’re simply looking to provide general illumination for a room, then you’ll want to go for a wide beam angle – 120o of higher – so that the light is distributed evenly over a large area.
If you’re looking to highlight specific features on your wall – a painting or photo for example – then you should definitely pick a narrow beam angle – 60o or narrower.
This ensures that the light is more concentrated in a single direction, giving you more control over where the light exactly shines.
Size Matters
It’s worth knowing that the standard size for a halogen GU10 is 50 x 50mm – and that most light fixtures are built to accommodate this size.
When buying LEDs, we would highly recommend checking the size of the bulb itself to ensure that it will fit into your current light fixture.
A general rule of thumb is that the more powerful the LED bulb – the larger it will be. This is because powerful bulbs require larger heat sinks, which proportionally affects the size of the bulb.
It’s fair to say that the selection of LED spotlights and all the variables have come to a point now where they can fulfil any purpose – you just need to know what specifics you’re looking for.
